A NATION CHALLENGED: THE SIEGE

A NATION CHALLENGED: THE SIEGE; New Leader Urges Foes To Surrender

By NORIMITSU ONISHI

Published: December 6, 2001

QUETTA, Pakistan, Dec. 5—
The man appointed today to lead Afghanistan's new interim government, Hamid Karzai, said tonight that he had begun talks with senior Taliban officials over the surrender of Kandahar, the last major stronghold of the Taliban and Arab fighters loyal to Osama bin Laden.

''I have had serious negotiations beginning this morning,'' said Mr. Karzai, the American-backed Pashtun tribal leader who is to take over a provisional government, intended to last six months, on Dec. 22. ''They took a different shape today.''

In a brief interview over satellite phone tonight, Mr. Karzai, who is in Dahla, about 10 miles north of Kandahar, said a delegation of senior Taliban officials from Kandahar had visited him for the first time.

He declined to identify the officials or describe the nature of the talks. He said he hoped the situation in Kandahar would be ''resolved soon.''

Afghan and Pakistani officials do not believe that Mr. Karzai is negotiating directly with Mullah Muhammad Omar, the Taliban's paramount leader, but through an aide to Mullah Omar who is also a member of Mr. Karzai's Populzai clan.

Asked about reports circulating in Pakistan that Mullah Omar had sent an emissary to Mr. Karzai with the message that he would surrender in return for amnesty, Mr. Karzai said, ''I can't comment.''

Mr. Karzai, whose appointment to lead the interim government had been rumored, was negotiating with greater authority today.

But the talks were in keeping with a strategy that has allowed Mr. Karzai -- with little fighting -- to win over Taliban-held territory from Oruzgan Province, north of Kandahar Province, all the way down to Arghandab, a town about 10 miles north of the city of Kandahar.

Mr. Karzai's appointment could quicken the pace of talks with the Taliban holdouts, who are mostly Pashtuns and are now cornered in Kandahar, where Mr. Karzai's family is one of the most respected.

As a prominent Pashtun leader with close ties to the exiled former king, Mohammed Zahir Shah, Mr. Karzai's appointment should also appease Pashtuns, Afghanistan's largest ethnic group, who have felt slighted by the Northern Alliance, which is led by ethnic Tajiks. Tajiks were named to the three most important ministerial posts in the interim government -- foreign affairs, defense and the interior.

The talks also came on a day when Mr. Karzai and another Pashtun tribal group engaged in fighting as they tried, with American help, to move closer to Kandahar from different sides.

In an incident apparently involving Mr. Karzai, three American soldiers were killed today when an Air Force B-52 bomber missed its target and hit Americans fighting alongside Mr. Karzai's soldiers. Late tonight, reports emerged that Mr. Karzai himself was slightly wounded.

Ahmed Karzai, who is Mr. Karzai's brother and lives in Pakistan, said Hamid Karzai did not mention any injuries in several phone conversations today.

Ahmed Karzai said that the incident involving the American soldiers apparently took place in Arghandab. According to Ahmed Karzai, Hamid Karzai's soldiers arrived there early this week and have been trying to secure the area.

As in other areas, United States Special Forces apparently were helping Mr. Karzai's troops secure Arghandab and possibly move further south. But a 2,000-pound satellite-guided bomb dropped by the B-52 missed its Taliban target.

The other tribal group pressing on Kandahar, led by Gul Agha Shirzai, said it was still struggling to seize the airport just south of Kandahar. Its soldiers are dug in a couple of miles south of the airport's boundary, said Yusuf Pashtun, an aide to Mr. Shirzai.

As a sign that Taliban fighters are still roaming areas though to be under the control of the tribal groups, Mr. Pashtun said 250 to 300 Taliban soldiers attacked Mr. Shirzai's position about 50 miles southeast of Kandahar. After an hour of fighting, Mr. Shirzai's soldiers pushed back the Taliban without suffering any injuries, Mr. Pashtun said.

Mr. Pashtun said that half of the assailants appeared to be Arab fighters and that most of the holdouts in the airport were also Arabs.

Mr. Pashtun, who welcomed Mr. Karzai's appointment despite a rivalry between Mr. Karzai and Mr. Shirzai, said the presence of the Arabs was complicating talks on the surrender of Kandahar.

More than 5,000 Arab fighters are believed to be in Kandahar, ''and the Arabs will never surrender,'' he said. ''They know there is no way out of the situation. They cannot live here. They can only die here.''